Love and Loyalty
by lovablegeek
Summary: [PreRENT] Five reasons Mark won't leave Roger. [One shot]


**1. Because he needs supervision.**  
The loft was thick with smoke when Mark got home. He just stood in the doorway for a moment, blinking. He didn't _see_ Roger, Roger had to be home, so where the hell was he, and what had he done _now_?  
He took a breath, tried not to cough on the smoke, and stepped inside, calling, "Roger?"  
Roger's head popped out of his room after a moment. "Wha- Hey, what happened?"  
"I was just about to ask you," Mark answered, completely deadpan.  
"Ah. Um." He frowned. "I was cooking ramen."  
Mark grimaced, and tried to resist the impulse to bash his head against the wall. "Did you, by any chance, forget to put_ water _in with the ramen?"  
Roger just stared at him for a moment before answering. "You need to do that?"

**2. Because he can turn everything into a celebration.**  
"Mark."  
Sadly, Mark was used to this method of waking up. It consisted of Roger sitting on the edge of Mark's bed, poking him and whispering his name until he woke up and either asked what he wanted, or shoved him off the bed. Mark hated mornings like this.  
"_Mark_." Another poke in the shoulder, harder than the last, confirmed Mark's fear that Roger wasn't going to give up. "Mar- Ow."  
When Mark rolled onto his side to look at Roger, his roommate was on the floor, looking up at him. He got some satisfaction from having managed to shove Roger off, but not nearly enough to compensate for being woken up much to early. "What?"  
"You want to come watch the sunrise?" Roger asked, getting up and dusting himself off, not at all dissuaded by having been pushed onto the floor.  
The look Mark gave him said _You have got to be kidding me. _But Roger's smile was just so genuine and hopeful...

**3. Because he reminds Mark to believe.**  
Roger didn't ever give up. When Mark was starting to think he'd have been better off staying in business school like his parents wanted him to, and giving up this whole artist thing, Roger didn't waver in the least.  
He'd sprawled on his back on the bed, feet on the wall, and eyed Mark with a grin. "Oh, come on, Mark. You're not a failure. Unless you just decide to sit there and give up, and then I think you'd be the definition of a failure..."  
"Roger," Mark growled, lying on his own bed, face down on his pillow. "You're not helping."  
"Well, I'm_ trying_. Which is more than you're doing, moping around here."  
Mark turned slightly to eye Roger, who grinned at him in his upside down position. "Roger? I will kill you."  
"Isn't that wasting energy you could be putting into your screenplay?" The most infuriating thing was, he was _right, _the bastard.

**4. Because Roger loves everyone completely.**  
Mark couldn't help but think that when Roger got a girlfriend, he'd be less of a friend. He'd get distracted by her - after all, he got to sleep with_ her _- because that was just the way things _worked_, with friendships, with relationships.  
So it rather surprised him that Roger pounced on him when he was cutting film and... well, almost screwed up what he was doing, not that that was unusual for Roger saying hi. "Hey, baby boy. I'm going up to Central Park to hang out - you wanna come?"  
"I thought you were hanging out with April today," he said, looking up at Roger with raised eyebrows. He considered yelling at Roger for pouncing on him when he was cutting film, but he knew it would be useless.  
"Well... I am, but I thought you might want to come to, you know?"  
Mark considered it for a moment, and then smiled, unable to help himself. "Yeah, sure. Just let me finish this first..."  
"Great, I'll tell April!"

**5. Because Roger needs him.**  
Roger always needed Mark to look after him. To keep him from burning down the house, or making some stupid, crazy mistake, or... whatever. Now he needs him for more than that, and it's something Mark hadn't quite prepared for. The bathroom's cleaned, the paramedics have come and gone, all of April's stuff is packed up and shoved in the closet or under the bed - and Roger still hasn't moved, in almost a week.  
"Roger? Are you at least gonna eat something?" Mark asked as he sat down on the edge of Roger's bed. Roger didn't speak,just curled up a little tighter.  
"Roger..."  
"Please go away, Mark."  
Mark sat still for a moment, started to reach out to touch Roger's shoulder, then changed his mind and pulled his hand back. "I'm going to go make sandwiches, and you're going to eat. I don't care whether you're hungry or not."  
He probably ought to give Roger a little more space. He probably ought to... give him time. But half of him is scared, in some quiet, distant way, that if he does that, Roger's going to take the opportunity to follow April. And then Mark won't have anyone to look after.


End file.
